


...And A Flower On Her Crown

by GlassRain



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Albinism, Alternate Universe - Human, Canon Relationships, Family Feels, Gen, Pearl-centric (SU), more albino Pearl 2k16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7029298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassRain/pseuds/GlassRain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Human AU. A collection of scenes about Pearl, her family, her relationships, and all the hats she wears. No, literally -- she's albino, so she has to spend a lot of the time wearing hats.</p><p>Written after I posted about <a href="http://glassrain83.tumblr.com/post/144921380589/i-dont-understand-why-so-many-people-draw">my frustration that fanartists don't draw human!Pearl with albinism</a>, then figured I should write some human!Pearl fic that brought it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	...And A Flower On Her Crown

"Look, Pearl!" exclaims Steven, running through the screen door with a Big Donut bag under one arm and a box under the other. "Look what I got you on the mission!"

Pearl looks up from her computer. "Mission?"

"We made a successful patrol of the boardwalk, completed objectives at Crab Clips and Suitcase Sam's, and stopped for refueling before setting a course for home," elaborates Garnet, following Steven inside. "It's the weekend, Pearl, you shouldn't be working."

"What? Work? This isn't work!" With a nervous laugh Pearl shuts the netbook, though the screen was facing away from Garnet already. Sometimes that woman just seems to _know_ things. "I'm just giving critical feedback on Peri's latest blueprints for . . . fun! And, because, obviously, _someone_ has to."

"Well, right now you havetolookatwhatIgot!" Steven drops the donuts on the counter and practically bounces over to the couch, sliding the box across the coffee table to Pearl.

It's big and wide, but can't weigh very much judging by how easily he swings it around, decorated with a really generic stripe pattern that doesn't give any hint of where it's from. Pearl lifts the lid, and sees . . . a really specific stripe pattern. "Watermelon . . . ?"

"It's a watermelon hat!" Steven's grin is huge with satisfaction. "I measured the brim, and it's as wide as Garnet says all your other sun hats are, and look at this!" He lifts the edge of the green-striped brim, revealing that the underside is a vivid pink with black flecks. "It has watermelon insides too!"

". . . Wow," says Pearl, momentarily lost for words. "This is very, um . . . unique! It was so kind of you to pick it out . . . and so, ah, _indulgent_ of Garnet to let you buy it." (She shoots a Look at Garnet, who's busying herself at the counter and pretending not to pay attention, though the small mischievous smile gives her away.) "Thank you for thinking of me."

That last line, at least, she can say sincerely. She ruffles Steven's fluffy hair, and he laughs as he shakes it off.

She wears the watermelon hat outside exactly once, on a visit to the beach where they're not planning to see anyone except family, then puts it on a shelf and never touches it again. It was enough to make Steven happy, and that's what matters.

 

~*~

 

Steven is crawling through the piles of junk in the Universe storage unit, looking for his mom's laser light machine. It's supposed to make really cool patterns, like a fireworks show without all the smoke and the booming. Steven had never heard of it until Pearl started reminiscing, but it sounds _so_ cool and he's _gotta_ see it.

He shifts a box to one side...and something flutters down from above to land on his head.

"Oh, geez, that used to be Pearl's," says Dad, when Steven shows him the hat. A lovely pale-pink felt one, with vines etched in the brim that swirl around before connecting to a rose-shaped crown. It looks a lot more like Mom's aesthetic than Pearl's, so Steven isn't surprised when the backstory continues with "Your mom made it for her."

"It's _beautiful_ ," breathes Steven, starry-eyed. "How did it end up here? We've gotta give it back to her!"

"That, uh, that might not be such a good idea."

"Aww, why not?"

"Well . . . you know Rose and Pearl used to date before Rose met me, right?"

Steven kinda had a feeling, though this is the first time anybody's said it to him in those words. And he knows things can still be tense between Pearl and his dad. If he'd thought about it, he probably could've worked out that Pearl and Mom might've had some fights too . . . and giving back a present someone gave you, maybe throwing it in their face while dramatic music swells in the background, is the kind of thing angry exes do a lot. At least, according to TV.

"It's really pretty, though," says Steven mournfully. He'd wear it himself if it wouldn't probably upset Pearl to see it again. And if he had the kind of skin that needed constant protection, instead of skin like his dad's, where the worst it could do was tan in a weird pattern.

"Tell you what," says Dad. "Rose didn't leave me any instructions for what to do with it, so it can be yours, okay? But don't take it to the house. Keep it down here."

 

~*~

 

Pearl's favorite hat these days is one that Garnet got her: wide and elegant and banded in gentle stripes of gold, brown, orange, and cream.

For a long time, her least favorite is one that came from Amethyst. The Amazon listing refers to it as a cowboy hat. The only honest description Pearl can give it is a disaster in sequins.

If it's a sunny day and she needs to look serious, she has a sky-blue hat with a white ribbon. Even Peridot looks intimidated when Pearl shows up to work in that, though she tries to hide it behind a sneer of "ooh, a _fancy_ one." 

 

~*~

 

"Are you sure this is okay?" asks Steven's little friend, the one Pearl agreed to give some fencing tips. "I mean . . . um . . . look at me, I don't even have a hat!"

"You don't need one," says Steven, walking with them out onto the rec center's grassy field. "It's not like it's safety equipment! Well, I guess it kind of is for Pearl, but not for you. Unless you have trouble seeing in bright light too, and you never said?"

Pearl glances around the field, taking in the scenery -- it's a cloudy day, doesn't look likely to clear up any time soon -- and makes a calculated gamble. "It's not even that bright out right now," she decides, pulling off the cheap straw hat. "Are you ready, Connie?"

"Well . . . um . . . "

"I'll go easy," adds Pearl. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know," blurts the kid, "but what if I hurt _you?_ Aren't you, like -- delicate?"

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Pearl turns to Steven in astonishment. "Steven, what have you been telling this girl?"

"Nothing!" says Steven. "I mean, I told her you can get really bad sunburn, but -- Connie, it's not like she's going to break if you hit her! I've seen her fencing, she's just like anyone else at it. Except that she's worked really really hard, so she's only like people who are really really good."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know."

Well, this makes it all the more important for Pearl to make an excellent first impression. She tosses the hat above her head, catches it with the tip of her foil, spins it in midair, and stabs it neatly into the ground.

Connie goggles. So does Steven, and it's not even the fanciest swordwork he's seen from her.

"If you want to learn, I'm the one you want to learn from," says Pearl matter-of-factly, leaning on the hilt. "So, again, Connie . . . are you ready?"

The girl turns out to be pretty good. A little hesitant, and she'll have to work on not telegraphing her openings, but her balance is strong and she picks up the stance right away. In spite of the awkwardness, Pearl looks forward to having her back for more sessions and seeing the progress she makes.

Her showing-off backfires when the sun comes out as they're walking home. Pearl winces at the thought of wearing a hat that's splotched with mud and grass stains -- there's no way she can pass that off as a fashion statement, or at least, not the kind someone like her would make. Steven sees her trouble, perks right up, and fishes through his giant novelty backpack until (with self-chanted fanfare) he produces a spare: not at all stained, and only slightly squashed.

 

~*~

 

The Universe kid is starring in Mayor Dewey's play, and one of the women he lives with -- the hot one -- is in the audience to watch. Talk about luck!

Dewey sidles up to her and takes the seat next to her, playing it nice and cool.

Gosh, she's even more stunning up close. That silky pale-orange hair . . . the lovely skin that never seems to tan, but stays pearly-white, just like her name . . . the crystalline sky-blue eyes. Seriously, he read on the Internet that people like her don't even have real color in their eyes, they just scatter the light and end up looking blue for the exact same reason the daytime sky does. How romantic is that?

"So," he says casually. "Pearl."

"Yes?"

"That's a beautiful name, you know." He says it again, savoring the sound: "Pearl."

"Uh-huh," says Pearl. "Did you want something?"

"You must be very proud of Steven. Acting in such a historical play. Say, how are you two related, exactly?"

"Oh, we're not," chuckles Pearl, and doesn't elaborate.

"You know, I wrote the script for this little production. Did it all from scratch."

"Yes, I heard. Very badly. Terrible historical inaccuracies. I was at the city archives all weekend, doing research to fix the mistakes."

What Dewey gets out of this is, "You spent _all weekend_ with my script? Talk about dedication! Say, if you'd like to collaborate on more writing in the future, I have a couple of drafts for a great --"

"Excuse me," says Pearl, abruptly standing up. "I need to go. I think I left my . . . hat . . . in the, ah . . . oven."

The seat next to Dewey is still empty when the curtain rises. Pearl must not be back yet. He sure hopes her hat is okay.

 

~*~

 

Amethyst keeps her Halloween costume under wraps in her room for weeks. Sometimes the other people in the house see her running in and out with piles of unidentified material, and Garnet tends to put on this mysterious expression like she knows exactly what's going on, but she won't admit to anything and neither Steven nor Pearl can guess.

Pearl wears the same thing every year: an old flight suit that she modified to look like a futuristic spacesuit. Steven special-ordered a Cookie Cat costume. Garnet has her own ambitious project, but she's a lot less secretive about it: she is, somehow, going to dress up as cotton candy.

They don't get so much as a hint of Amethyst's costume until the afternoon, when they're about to leave for a party on the beach, and she skips out of the room fully-dressed. "Ta-da!"

It's something red and lumpy and utterly unidentifiable.

Amethyst gives them a spin to show it off from all sides, then adds, "I'm Pearl's worst fear! Get it?"

"Ooh! A nasty spill!" guesses Steven.

"I'm going to go with chewed food," puts in Garnet.

"Nooo! C'mon, guys, I'm _skin cancer_ ," gripes Amethyst. "I swear, you people have no imagination."

 

~*~

 

Pearl picks up Steven on the way home from the workshop, going back to the house together . . . where they step into a scene of wanton destruction. Pearl lets out a startled cry at the carnage. Steven freezes in shock and horror, then springs into action and leaps forward:

"Lion! Let that go!"

His cat looks up from the half-shredded victim, teeth still gnawing at its crown. Just before Steven gets close enough to grab, Lion tears away and bolts for a high shelf, leaving Steven to kneel in despair beside the remains.

Pearl joins him, shaken, and touches the destroyed hat with trembling fingers. It was the old-fashioned straw one, a lovely pale yellow, banded with pink and purple ribbons and accented with a spray of translucent shimmery fabric. Now it has big chunks ripped out of the brim, and what's left is shredded and torn.

"I'm really, really sorry," says Steven in a small voice. He keeps trying to train Lion better manners, but sometimes cats will be cats. "Can we fix it?"

Pearl shakes her head. "Some things are just too far gone."

"You didn't wear this one a lot. Was it . . . special?"

"Sort of." With the heel of her hand Pearl starts sweeping up the scattered bits of straw. "Rose made it. Put it together out of a kit. Not her best work . . . it was too big, kept falling down."

"Oh."

"There was another one," adds Pearl, soft and distant, talking more to herself than to Steven. "When she figured out how to mold them, so she could custom-fit them exactly to the person she was making them for. But that one's . . . gone . . . too. My fault, that time. And there's never been another one that my head fit so perfectly inside . . . "

Steven barely breathes. "Pearl!" he stage-whispers, even though the only other being in the house is Lion, who won't listen anyway. "The hat -- was it pink?"

Pearl meets his eyes. Blinks. "Well, yes. Like so many of Rose's creations."

"Vines on the brim? Cool flower-petal design happening on the crown?"

"How did you . . . ?"

Steven beams. It's not just little-kid enthusiasm, there's an almost adult sense of serene joy in it, making him look so very much like Rose. "I know where it is. Do you want it back?"

**Author's Note:**

> Come be my friend on Tumblr, where I reblog SU and other pretty things: http://glassrain83.tumblr.com/


End file.
